Spirits found on Dominaria were often associated either with the restless ghosts of the dead or nature spirits. Several of these spirits were less ethereal than those found on other planes, instead resembling physical creatures. On Urborg, spirits of many different shapes and sizes have even built their own towns.[7]

On Fiora, the Custodi are able to keep a person's soul anchored to the physical world, creating a spirit. Additionally, spirits can return from a person with unfinished business.[8] Few persons end up purposefully as a spirit. Even in their spectral existence, many retain habits of their former lives, akin to muscle memory.[9]

Spirits on Innistrad, often called geists, come in all colors of mana. While Avacyn stood as guardian over Innistrad, she and the angels of Flight Alabaster ushered the spirits of the departed into the Æther, where they rejoined the essence of the plane. In her absence— and now her madness— many spirits cling to the world of the living, unable or unwilling to find their way to the Blessed Sleep.[10] The moon appears to govern the interaction between spirits and the world of flesh.[11] Often, chains manifest on spirits to symbolize past regrets that keep them anchored to the world.[12]

When Emrakul was summoned to Innistrad, several benevolent Geists bonded with Cathars to protect them from the corruption and madness the titan spread. The Order of Saint Traft was formed from this union.

The Skathul are those spirits who are consumed by revenge. The cause can be something as simple as cremating their body to something so grave as the desecration of their grave by necromancers. The ghosts of the unavenged are some of the most dangerous geists on Innistrad, sometimes appearing as living fire or as "blood mist" entities that engulf a hapless victim and inflict cuts and welts that are slow to heal.

Entropic Spectres were active on Rath, resembling the hooded forms of wraiths but lacking the mount. Rath's cloudscape was inhabited by nature spirits that were revered by the Kor, along with the spirits of their own ancestors. Spirits also inhabited the Furnace of Rath.

Ravnican spirits come in several variants, some mirroring the species they were in life, others twisted into near animalistic forms. Since the spirits of the departed usually stay active on the plane, the denizens have learned to cope with their existence, usually by leaving them small offerings to avoid their wrath. Others find themselves molested by goblins. Ways to ensure a spirit does not rise is to pay the exorbitant fee for a Proper Burial conducted by the guilds.

Among the guilds, the Azorius, Orzhov and Dimir dealt with spirits. The Azorius utilize spirits as untiring bureacrats and protectors of the laws of the Guildpact. The Orzhov are ruled by an aristrocracy of undead ghosts that form the highest council of the guild, the Deathless. Being raised as a spirit is a high honor for guildmembers, while it is unfortunate fate for those unable to pay their debts in life to the lesser ranks. The Dimir use them as spies and infiltrators, often turning to those spirits that are so ancient that their names are all but forgotten.

Agyrem acted as the quarter for the ghosts of the departed. Even after the Guildpact broke, its laws still held sway there.

Rusalkas are spirits of those who died a violent or otherwise wrongful death. Their motivation to remain behind determines their color affiliation, with some staying behind to ensure that no other dies the death they died, while others reenact their own deaths on unwitting passangers to understand why they died.

While spirits are dormant in daylit Lorwyn, they emerge with might during the dark Shadowmoor phase. These spirits range from the ghosts of the deceased, like Bloodied Ghost, to entities more akin to Lorwyns Elementals. Some, like the Suture Spirit, are benevolent, while others are explicitly malevolent and take great pleasure from tormenting others.

On Tarkir, spirits are utilized by the Abzan Houses. Each family kin-tree is a hub for its ancestors' spirits. Some among the Abzan have learned to communicate with these spirits, and even call them forth to either protect their descendants or harm their enemies. The Abzan have discovered that amber, tree resin, and sap aid in spirit magic. Amber wards are found in Abzan homes and Abzan soldiers carry amber with them to war. Spirit speakers consume distilled tree resin to help them connect to spirits. Weapons made from the wood of fallen kin trees are said to be blessed. When disowned Abzan die, their spirits have no place to go. Some Abzan mages seek out these lost spirits. This is a taxing feat because these spirits are vengeful and malicious. However, in times of war, the malevolent spirits are channeled by Abzan mages to be unleashed against the enemy.[14]

In the new timeline, trafficking with spirits has been outlawed as necromancy by the Dromoka. Anyone who acts against this edict is destroyed as a heretic. Persons killed by the breath of a dragon do not leave a spirit behind.[15]

Theran spirits are called Eidolons. When a dead person escapes the Underworld, they lose their identity and become one of the faceless Returned. But in this process of severing the physical body from the "soul," an eidolon is also created. An eidolon is the spectral embodiment of the lost identity, but without its body, it has no agency. Unlike the Returned, it has no sense of what it lost. The Returned and its severed eidolon are never reunited, nor are they aware of one another's existence.

While some eidolons forever wander, others linger in a certain place. This "haunt" isn't chosen because of a connection to its former life. More often, it's near a place where a nymph lives. It's believed that eidolons are instinctually drawn to nymphs' magic, like a cub is drawn to the warmth of its mother. The nymphs are usually sympathetic to these creatures.[16]

On Zendikar, the flow of mana can trap the soul of a deceased in the physical world.[17]

Elves and Kor are known to practice ancestor worship, and in return, these spirits remain in the world to protect their descendants. Sometimes, such a spirit is separated from its community and transformed into a Forsaken One. Vampires are able to call on spirits to become possessed by them, transforming into a Bloodghast.

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